Landing-gear



W, H. BARLING.

LANDING GEAR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 17. 1.921.

Patefited July 26, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET w. H. mums.

LANDING GEAR.

APPLICATION man FEB- n. 14:21..

- 1,385,770. I PatentedJuly26,1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

um'rso STATES WALTER HENRY IRA-IDLING, O1 HASBROlIGK HEIGHTS,

NEW JERSEY.

(tr-GEAR.

To rill whom it concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER H. BARLING,

a citizen of England, residing at Hasbrouck Hei hts, in the county of Ber en and State ew Jersey, have invente certain new and ,useful Improvements in Landing-Gears, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to aircraft landing gears ingeneral and more particularly to that type in which dual sets of landing wheels are provided. In the present-known types of landing gears it has been proposed in some instances to place auxiliary wheels forward of the .main landing gearto prevent nosing over as in the case of extremely rough landings or landing in soft ground. In such devices the-auxiliary wheels do not come into use unless the plane partially noses 1 gears two of the over. While a landing gear so arranged has been found to provide some advantages they do not meet all of the conditions encountered in landing or do not rovide all ofthe usefill-functionsthat mlght be provided with a dual landing gear system.

In the design and construction of landing principal problems are the provision of proper shock absorbing means and the location of the axle of the wheels with reference to the center of gravit of the plane. As to ards shock absor ing means it is known that a shock absorber of the dash pot type absorbs shocks such as the initial shock of a rough landing and with a minimum of bouncing. Such a type, of course, is only effective for the length of time required for the passage of the fluid through the dash pot orifice. It will hence be useless as a shock absorbing means to take up the shocks of taxiing. The usual elastic band shock absorber is found very satisfactory for taxiin sitioning of the wh axles it is desira is for the pur ose of landin that the wheels should be p aced far ahead of the center of gravity in order to prevent nosing over in the event of a rough landing or a andmg made in'soft ground. By so placing the landing gear it will be seen that a greater inertia will be required to move the weight of the ship acting at the center of gravity through the longer moment arm around the forwardl placed wheel axle. it is prefgrred that the landing ar shoul be but slightly ahead of the lan g wheels in order that theminimum amount'of weight should rest upon the and As regards the o-' For taxiing Specification of Letters Patent. Pate t d J l 2 19 1 Application filed February 17, 1921.- Serial No. 445,846. 7 i

tail skid and result in a'stralmng of the fuselage.

Itus therefore my purpose to provide a landing gear consisting of dual sets of landmg wheels to be placed in tandem; one set of the wheels being placed farther forward in the best position to take up shock of a gliding landing or to prevent nosin over when alanding is made in soft groun These two forward wheels are to be provided with a dash pot type shock absorber are to be mounted so as to be shiftable at the will of the pilot from an inoperative posltlon to an operative one. The rear set ofwheels is to be placed but very slightly forward of the center of gravity in the best poss ble position for taxling and is to be prov ded with a shock absorber of the usual elastic band type. By the use of a landin gear so devised I will have attained all 0% the desired advantages heretofore discussed. The present preferred embodiment of my invention willbe found in the accompanying specification and attached drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side elevation of the landmg gear showing in dotted lines the position when shifted;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the landing gear showing the attachment to the fuselage or wing; an I Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the landing gear showing the two wheels of one side.

As shown in the drawings, Q represents the fuselage or wing, of an aircraft, to

which are attached at A and C on one side fightly fitting within the hollow member and slidable therein to provide a shock absorber of the dash pot type for the forward wheels V.

notch 0 formed therein adapted to be engaged by a safety catch N pivoted on the strut X atM operable by a cord J attached Near its upper end the member H has aat'K and'held by spring L. Connecting the gr axl s D and G is a strut E fixedly secured toG and pivotally secured to D at B and adapted toswing' thereon. Fig. 1 shows in full lines the landing gear in ake-ofi position with the forward wheels V in inoperative position, and in dotted linesshows them in operative position for landing.

When about to land, the pilot pulls the cord J releasing the catch N from the notch 0, thus allowin the member H, by reason of the weight the wheel V to which it is attached, to slide downwardly upon the strut- X,db strut E swinging upon pivots R an .The wheels V, when shifted to operative position, forward and lower than the main wheels W will receive the initial shock of landing. by this construction it will be seen that a point of support, 2'. e., the axle of the forward landing wheels, is provided at a point farther forward of the center of gravity than that of the wheels W which were used for taxiing. It will be seen that -by this "25 construction in an initial landing there will be a'greater amount of weight placed upon the tail skid which will cause it to drag heavily and assist in. bringing the plane to a stopuIt will further be noted that with the 30.

wheels so placed it will require a great deal more inertia to cause the weight of the airplane acting at the center of gravity to move through the necessaril the axle .of the forwar wheels such as will ,be necessary'for the plane to nose over.

In addition to theseadvantages. theminimum possible amount. of shock of landing that b desired circular pin will have been transmitted to the fuselage by virtue of the fact that, the forward wheels,'as stated are provided'with a dash I pot type of shoe absorber. To provide an effective cushioning means for the above described dash Igotshockabsorber a tapered is mounted integrally and concentricalg within the hollow landing ear strut and at its lower extremity.

he taper pm or its equivalent is usedso of the landing gear (upon landing) may be obtained.

1 The dash' pot shock absorber, as stated, 1s found to be most efiective for absorbing shocks, due to, as in the present case, vertical thrust; and hence it is very eflicient for the purpose of taking up initial shock of landing. It willbe further noted that such atypeof shock absorber greatly decreases thetendenc of the plane to bound u on landing.

ast the: istpn in the act of landing this orm of's ock absorber would be of no value for use intaxiing. The catch 0, in am, will and hold thefrollt whe ls irom F119 longer are around to an operative position.

varying the shape of the pin any variation in the rate of contraction owever, as a cushioning flui in the dashpot would rapidly be transferring by reason of the gradual loss of effectiveness of the dash pot type after having landed are adapted to receive the entire shocks encounest' suited for that purpose,'an d the main wheels,

tered when taxiing and are provided with elastic cord type shock absorbers which has been found to be best suited for that purpose. A further feature provided is that by locking the forward wheels V in their inoperative position the aircraft may tilted forward and balanced on the mam and forward 'wheels'alone for the purpose of removin or repairingfar iylportion of the rear part ,0 the fuselage. is feature also provides for a minimumof space in hangars in case of a separable unit fuselage.

Operation: The 0 eration' of mydevice. would seem to be as ollows-When itis desired to take-off the forward wheels are locked in their inoperative positmn, the take. off is made, wheels. When about to descend the centre lever is movedso that "the forward wheels,

dually extend by reason of their weight,

pon land1ng 1t' on the rear or mainlandin will be-seenthatthe forward wheels l touch the ground first and take-up the 1n1 tial shock as the fluid gradually piston through the dash Pet o co. The

Having described my invention, I claim:

asses ther 1. .In an aircraft, a landing gear'assembly ear members, one

comprising two lan n b a, had

rs emg a of said landing ear mem at a point but shghtly forward of gravity of the aircraft and the second landing. gear member being laced in apps tion considerably forwar of said first named landing gear member, named landing gear member-bemg normally held in-inoperativeposition and adapted to be shifted to an operative positlon .for landing.

2. In an aircraft, aifuselage, a landin sai gear assembly attached to said fuselage anding gear assembly comprising two landingar members,-one of said'landin gear mem rs being1 attached to the aircra at a' point but slig tly forward of the center of grarity thereon and the second landinig'gzar.

member being attachedto the aim point forward of said main landing gear mmber.,sa1d last name and g g ar memof the center a 11 5 said second weight of the plane will then be taken up by the rear wheels. I

gear assembly comprising forward and rear ber being-normally held in a position abovev all. mem selage and said forward landing gear.

members in shiftable' relation thereto, and means operable at the will of the pilot for shifting said forward landing gear member to an operative position.

5. In an aircraft, a landing gear assembly attached thereto, said landing gear assembly comprising forward and. rear landing ear members, said rear landing gear mem rs being attached in fixed relation to the fuselage at a point slightly forward of the cen ter of gravity thereof, and. said forward a landing gear members attached in shiftable relation to said fuselage at a point forward of the main landing gear member.

. '6. In an aircraft, a landing gear assembly attached thereto, said landing gear assembly comprising forward and rear landing gear members, said rear landing gear member being attached in fixed, relation to the fuselage at a point slightly forward of the center of gravity thereof said forward landing gear member attached in shiftable relation to said fuselage at a point forward of said rear landing gear member, said rear landing gearmember being provided with the usual type of elastic shock absorber, said forward landing gear member being provided with a shock absorber of the dash got type.

In testimony whereof I signature.

WALTER HENRY BARLING.

ave affixed my 

